One of my father’s friends is a Scottish immigrant named Bill.
He doesn’t have time for fools. “Could you talk to Bill about investing?” my father had asked. “He just fired his financial advisor.”
At the time, I was visiting my parents. After dinner, Bill dropped by. As Bill poured himself a beer he said, “I’ve had three different investment guys in the past five years. I fired the third guy last week.”
Bill runs a company that repairs heavy-duty machinery. If one of his mechanics isn’t performing, he knows right away.
“Investing is different,” I explained to Bill. “You’ll have to be more patient with your investments than you are with your mechanics. Even the world’s best investment strategy doesn’t win every year.”
I gave him a copy of my book, Millionaire Teacher and recommended a portfolio of low-cost index funds. That was three years ago. I wondered, at the time, whether Bill had the patience to manage a portfolio of index funds.
This week, I got my answer when my father brought me up to speed on Bill and his portfolio.
“He gave up on the index fund account after about a year,” he said. “He wasn’t happy with its performance. He met a guy who promised stronger returns if he invested everything in oil.”
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